‘Battle of the Bypass’ between Burrell, Valley football teams will continue with Week Zero matchup
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Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | 10:46 PM
“The Battle of the Bypass” will live on in Week Zero.
Although separated by PIAA realignment, Burrell and Valley will renew their football rivalry for the 39th consecutive season in 2018.
Valley dropped to Class 2A in the newest PIAA alignment, with Burrell remaining in 3A. That put the Alle-Kiski neighbors' longstanding rivalry game in jeopardy. The WPIAL released regular-season football schedules for 2018 and 2019 on Tuesday, and Burrell and Valley were not matched together for a nonconference game.
Week Zero gave the Bucs and Vikings another option: The rivals will meet then in lieu of holding a second scrimmage.
Valley holds a 24-14 edge in the series, with the Vikings' 18-13 victory last season giving them a five-game winning streak over the Bucs.
The WPIAL did resuscitate another local series, as Butler County rivals Freeport and Knoch will play in Week 9 in their first meeting since 2005.
Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.
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